The oncoming darkness: Afterlife
by bardofthewastes1991
Summary: This story is a continuation of the oncoming darkness following perry Hammond through the wastes. to any readers who were disappointed in the abrupt end of my old story please accept my continuation as an apology, to new readers welcome and please enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

The wind whistled by Lucas Simms ear, it carried the smell of bramin across the nearby wasteland, it was almost offensive to his nose but Lucas had smelt much worse. He had also seen much worse, the one that really stuck in his mind was the destruction of megaton and how powerless he was to stop it. The only joy felt that day was finding out that a new found friend who joined him in the defence of the town had somehow miraculously survived the blast with minor injuries. Lucas had come a long way since then, so had the rest of the megaton refugees. And now they had created a new city, Wanderers folly. After the megaton incident his friend Perry had scouted the area out and found vault 106. The town had quickly sprung out of the vault and become bigger and more popular than megaton ever was, it wasn't hard to see why either. For a start megaton was ramshackle and slapped together, but wanderer's folly had had time care and attention paid to it. Properly planned by the town elder committee and built with proper old world construction techniques and materials, turning it into what many now call the jewel in the wastes, a great white citadel of sorts high walls defensive gates and buildings jutting out of the landscape, heck they even had a tower for Simms and Stockholm's own personal use to defend the town. And then below a large warren of a vault, all for the towns use that is except for the science section that belonged to Perry and Perry alone or the lone wanderer as everyone now called him. Simms was the only one who knew his real name now. As for the wanderer he had changed since the explosion, he'd become colder than he was before almost as if Perry had died and someone else had taken his place. He ended up gaining quite a reputation out in the wastes as a saviour of sorts appearing out of nowhere when he was most needed and seemingly invincible in battle, some even said that the wanderer and the wastes were symbiotically conjoined as if the wastes worked through the wanderer. But then Amata and Jonas left to return to the vault leaving the wanderer distraught. Slowly he'd become a recluse pouring every waking moment into his scientific hobbies unseen by anyone for nearly three months. Lucas dropped his cigarette on the ground and stamped it out before heading back to his quarters in the tower. His watch was over.

Meanwhile in the vault laboratory a computer screen cast a fluorescent glow onto a pallid, tired face that looked older than it should. The eyes however, looked like those found on Siberian huskies, and they had never aged. Still sharp and still accurate and more importantly they made people feel as if these eyes could look through them into their soul. These were the eyes of the lone wanderer and for the first time in months they brightened. He'd found it, found out where his father was. Just a few months ago the wanderer was riding high, He'd found Madison Lee and his fathers holotape archive, wanderers folly was coming along nicely as a defacto settlement and three dog was spreading a message of hope. Then it went to hell, Jonas and Amata left while he was in rivet city, small cadres of soldiers turned up, who three dog identified as "enclave" and then finally the wanderer realised that his fathers holotape archive spanned the whole of James's life and more importantly were encrypted meaning he couldn't search for the entry he needed. He had spent three months decrypting and reading each and every entry one after the other in jumbled order. But now it was over, he had the information he needed and could head out tomorrow night after he had the supplies he needed and night had fallen.

Amata rose from her sleep to the sound of shouting, her father was arguing with Jonas again. There had been many arguments since Amata and Jonas had returned to the vault. People who didn't want her and Jonas to return versus those who fell inline with the goals of the overseer, arguments with her father over the baby. The baby, Perry didn't even know something that left a twang of guilt in Amata. Sometimes she even wandered if it would have been better if she had stayed with Perry, the wanderer, whoever he was now. He had changed so much she barely recognised him. She'd become afraid of how much of a stranger he had become, Amata chose to run rather than stay. But now she regretted her choice, she wished she had stayed with him. Now he would never know the joy of fatherhood and she would be alone in a cold sterile vault raising a child with her father and everyone else looking down on her. Half the vault viewed her as a traitor the other half believed she should abort her child. But both had decided she wasn't welcome. And now here she was sequestered from the rest of the vault in private quarters with only Jonas and her father for company. She remembered the conversation with her when she returned and revealed her pregnancy.

(**Three months previous outside the vault door)**

"**Please father open the door, I need help" Amata was in panic, Jonas was losing blood fast and the radiation levels from the megaton detonation were becoming dangerously high. Then the intercom buzzed " you left Amata, you know you can't return so why should I open this door?" her father's harsh tone knocked Amata into stupor. she didn't want to tell him like this, but it was the only way to get the vault open and get Jonas some help. "father, I'm pregnant and I need help, please just help me" Amata waited for what seemed like ten minutes, waiting for her father's reply, she thought to herself that if it takes this long to reply then he must be deciding to turn her and Jonas away. Then to her surprise the vault door began to hiss and hum before sliding back and across with alarms blaring, revealing the vault auxiliary control deck behind. But it was empty, no one to meet and greet them, no security detail to march her straight to her father's office. However she wasn't complaining, she grabbed Jonas and made her way inside. As the door slid shut behind them a fog began building up within the control deck, Amata realised too late that knockout gas was being filtered into the room. As she drifted out of consciousness she made out the form of five vault security guards in gas masks staring down at her and Jonas. And now here she was in a dark place and the man she so desperately loved and needed an impossible distance from her with no way out. Her watch read nine am, the sun would be rising from the green glowing horizon in the wastes, and Perry would be there on the roof of their home watching it with green and red flecks dancing across his shockingly blue eyes and a dusky purple tint across his amazingly pale face, so white it was almost angelic, of course she didn't like the fact his hair had gone a whitish gray, but when someone survives a nuclear blast it's amazing they have hair at all. She missed him more than ever. She would always remember him that way, on that roof, smiling at the sunrise.**

**Sarah Lyons on the other hand didn't have time to think of anything. She couldn't believe it, nine in the morning and she and the pride were pinned down at Roosevelt academy, super mutants everywhere. Was she going to die here? And the pride, her pride. Would their deaths come here too? And it would all be her fault. She was the one who had taken it upon herself to find the wanderer, dragged her men through hell and back to find one man who they hardly even knew. But of course this man was special. Three dog doesn't get enamoured often but these days the wanderer was all he talked about so the wanderer must have something about him. But then Sarah was rather enamoured by him too, since that day in Chevy Chase when the wanderer seemingly came out of nowhere and saved her and her team. It was like watching a force of nature in battle. A single shot to the head of each enemy, dancing around the battlefield and not a single bullet hit him. He ran up walls, flew through the air and made super mutants feel fear, something Sarah had never seen before. His powers were almost god like, and surely no mortal could do this. Perhaps the rumours were true, maybe he and the wastes were one and the same. Maybe he was the wastes instrument of will. She had met him several times since Chevy Chase. Each time he had saved her backside and each time he had stunned her with his abilities and how seemingly unstoppable he was. As far as she was concerned after all the wanderer had done, the people of the wastes owed him to at least search and help him if he was in trouble. And now this foolhardy action was going to get her killed, the wanderer wouldn't have wanted this. Then when all hope seemed lost, Vargas slowly bleeding out near a sandbag wall and the rest of the pride locked into hand to hand combat the strangest thing happened. A great blue wave swept across the plaza vaporizing the super mutants but leaving Sarah and her pride unscathed. They were all stood in shock, and then Sarah saw it, a slender and tall shadowy figure atop a building holding a glowing blue device in his hands. Sarah rushed into the building with the pride on her tail, somehow even Vargas was keeping up. Immediately Sarah darted up the stairs heading for the roof access door, skipping two steps at a time, her goal so close. She had finally found him and could ask him why he disappeared. She flung the door open and ran straight through. The wanderer stood with his back to her and didn't react to the fact a power armoured squadron had just burst onto the roof behind him. Sarah edged closer slowly. It was strange, he didn't acknowledge her presence, and in fact he didn't seem to be making any noise, she couldn't even hear him breathe. And a strange blue aura hung around him, then as she was about to speak it happened, the wanderer sort of flashed with static before fizzling into nothingness. It was a hologram, a goddamn hologram. Sarah was crestfallen, she was so close and then to be fooled by one of the wanderers magic tricks. How could she be so stupid? A holo sentry, she had seen these things all over. The wanderer always left them in creature nests to prevent the super mutants from re-populating. She turned around too leave, she was almost at the door when the hologram re-materialised, but this time it turned its head towards her. Sarah turned to look at the hologram that had disappointed her so much. Then it spoke "stop searching Sarah, I will return when I am ready, continuing down this road will only lead to the death of you and the pride. Go home!" it said in a harsh tone. Sarah quickly retorted "where are you?". But the hologram did not answer back and returned to its natural state of keeping an eye on the empty super mutant nest below. It had obviously played a pre recorded message, but how did the wanderer know it would be Sarah looking for him. Once again the wanderer had left Lyons pride in shock and awe of his abilities.**

**The wanderer spent most of the day on the main court yard in wanderer's folly. He was amazed by how much it had grown, and the town had put his environmental sanitizer technology to good use. With Green terraces and gardens with hanging plants everywhere. And the plaza paved completely in reclaimed stone. The new water purification system had even allowed Walter to put a beautiful fountain with clean azure water in the centre. Wanderer's folly was a paradise. Then it struck him, while he and the megatonians had lived in paradise for three months the rest of the people of the wastes had continued to live a hellish existence in the world beyond the great ivory walls of the town. He had his supplies, why was he waiting to head out; he could leave now and help someone in the world before going to find his father. He made his way to the security gate at the end of the main concourse. On his way he spotted Billy creel stood under a rotunda with harden and Maggie playing behind him. Billy began walking towards the wanderer "good to see you up an about, had us all worried for a time" the wanderer stopped and turned to face Billy. "I had some important work that demanded my full attention" Billy looked bemused "i didn't mean anything by it, just sayin people care bout you" the wanderer looked down at the ground "I know, but my absence will end now, i have finished my work for now, I will be in the wasteland to help out just as before" with that the wanderer faced back towards the gate at the end of the concourse and headed towards it, he could feel stock holms gaze beaming down from the ramparts above the gate. As the wanderer made his way through the gate known as the great barricade he heard billy shout behind him, "after all this time how do you know if people even still want your help" the wanderer looked back over his shoulder "I just do" and with that the wanderer departed heading off west into the wastes.**


	2. Chapter 2

Night had fallen across the wasteland, the wanderer had spent most of the afternoon rescuing captives from super mutant camps, once again he found himself logging his thoughts in his pip boy about how strange it was that super mutants were taking captives even though he had never come across service slaves in large super mutant settlements. Then a chill ran through him, perhaps they ate the captives. But these just mystified him even more as there were plenty of other wasteland creatures closer by and allot less hassle to capture. The wanderer made a note to try and find a really large super mutant encampment in future to try and pin down a reason for the en masse captive capture. But for now night had fallen and it was time to head to the true reason why he had re entered the wastes in the first place. He had already managed to scout smith Casey's garage earlier on along with an old-world foundry which he felt demanded closer scrutiny in the future. As he approached the garage he noticed some brother hood of steel soldiers. The wanderer was annoyed he had specifically left a message for Sarah Lyons stating he didn't want to be found and that she should head back to the D.C. ruins where she was used to. Instead here they were interfering. He approached the soldiers head on. They spoke first "stay back local" the wanderer stopped in his tracks in surprise "I beg your pardon but who do you think you are talking too in such a rude and disrespectful tone" the leader at the back began laughing "well get this, the primitive thinks he's intelligent" the wanderer quickly realised that this wasn't the brother hood or at least it wasn't the chapter he had met. Then another soldier tuned into the conversation "the only person in this wasteland smarter than us would be the lone wanderer, he managed to get the Arlington archive, and the tech he uses is more sophisticated" the commander stared across at the soldier in annoyance before turning back to the wanderer. "So there you go simpleton move along and let the intelligent people do the real important work". This was enough for the wanderer, not so much the insults he had endured but the way these people thought about the people of the wasteland. These people didn't even belong here; he could feel the ground and the air telling him so. And yet here they were bold as brass walking around like they own the place and telling everyone what to do. The wanderer saw red "I AM THE LONE WANDERER AND YOU ARE NOTHING, JUST INSIGNIFICANT SPECKS WALKING AROUND LIKE AROGGANT IDIOTS, THE WASTELAND WILL SWALLOW YOU WHOLE!" The soldiers were taken aback by the outburst, their demeanour immediately changed "eaten by the wastes eh?" the group commander asked in a sarcastic tone. "The only way anyone survives this place is by working together, you're brethren at the citadel worked this out for themselves, change your ways or face extinction" the wanderer was now beginning to scare the soldiers. The group leader spoke again in an offended tone "we will never join Lyons cadre of fools, the old traitor will be wiped from the great archive for his actions". The wanderer fixed a cold stare upon her "the wasteland doesn't want you here, you disrespect it with your very presence, you know who I am and you know my connection to this place, if you will not leave by choice then the wasteland will make you leave". With that the soldiers turned off to the east and walked away with the wanderers warning burning in their ears.

With the heated exchange over the wanderer made his way into the ruined garage, his bottle green frock coat flapping in the wind behind him. He looked around the garage, it was dim and dirty with very little light. He walked through into the mechanic bay, to his surprise a group of mole rats were huddling for warmth by a burning oil drum; they ignored his presence as always. He was like a ghost to them. He then found a lever on the wall. When he flipped it the floor at the back of the bay slid apart to reveal a staircase covered in two hundred year old dust which had found its way there after his father entered the water treatment station below almost one year ago. One year since the wanderer had been in the vault, since he had seen his father; he had achieved so much since then and so little. The wanderer descended into the water treatment making his way past another family of mole rats, his highly polished riding boots sinking into green sludge as he made his way to the door at the very end of the room. He then found himself in an antechamber of sorts and the first clean area since entering the garage. More importantly it was the first sign that a cold sterile vault existed in this abysmal place. Finally arriving at the vault door he read the massive digits 112 before sliding the door control on the bright yellow command panel. It slid back and to the side just like vault 101. But then the wanderer noticed, this auxiliary control deck was tiny compared to the other vaults he had been in. There wasn't even a secret passage for the overseer; it was like standing in a glorified broom closet almost as if it was added as an afterthought. None the less the wanderer continued on right into the path of a robobrain. It turned and spoke surprising the wanderer "hello resident records indicate that you are two hundred and two years behind schedule please equip your vault 112 jump suit and enter your tranquillity lounger at once, if you do not have a jumpsuit another can be acquired from equipment requisitions in the main atrium". With this the wanderer entered the main area of the vault. He had never seen anything like it before, he was on a balcony overlooking a large hangar, filled with fog and dangling wires. In the centre was a large alien looking column connected to large pods with wiring. The wanderer moved on following the signs to the overseer's office hoping this one would be more affable than Amata's father, but when he got there he was unable to enter. The door was locked, the console disconnected from the server. This door didn't even have explosive emergency bolts. Knowing there was no way in the wanderer headed downstairs and into the main bay below the balcony, this place didn't feel right. And then he saw it, a human being inside the pod with tubes and wires connected all over the place, the individual didn't seem bothered by this simply staring at a television screen in the front end of the pod with glazed eyes. Frantically the wanderer checked each pod, his heart sinking into the abyss when he finally found his father hooked up like everyone else. He turned back to the column to search the console directly in front of his father's pod for an abort or open button but none could be found all the console provided was bodily function read outs, this worried the wanderer as the pod containing his father wasn't registering any vital function, no breathing and no heart beat. But he couldn't be dead the wanderer could see his father's chest rising and lowering with each breath he took. That was it he had to enter a pod and get his father out. Doing as the robot suggested the wanderer grabbed a jumpsuit and quickly changed leaving his clothes and equipment in a nearby locker. This suit was different from the others he had found, they were made from a strange breathable fabric that felt almost like water instead of the traditional leather, there were also a large number of holes with rubber edging all over the jumpsuit most likely for the tubes and wires inside the pod, it was also tight, to the point it expanded a little so it could fit perfectly to his skin like a glove. Once ready the wanderer made his way over to the only unoccupied pod near the door he had entered from. The wanderer noticed as the pod opened that there was a funnel within the seat, there was also a tube hanging above the seat where his crotch would be. The wanderer looked down at his jumpsuit. The crotch and seat of which could be removed, he grimaced, there was no way he was staying in this pod that long. He sat in the chair and quickly connected all the wires and tubes in the appropriate places and then lay back as the pod closed. A screen then flipped down, the wanderer felt as if he was being hypnotised, as if the image on the screen was being beamed directly into his mind, then it all went black.

When the wanderer opened his eyes he found a strange scene before him, a pre war cull de sac with no visible means of entry or exit. It was clean with orderly lawns, uniform picket fences and pristine pre-war homes. And in the very centre a well maintained circular green with a large healthy oak tree and wonderfully crafted children's playground equipment. He recognised the numerous people wandering the neighbourhood as those hooked up inside the pod. As far as the wanderer was concerned this was genius these people had survived the nuclear holocaust with ought sacrificing daily life or any of the other setbacks to be found from living in a vault. There was no chance of contracting vault syndrome as the simulation perfectly mimics the real outside world, there was no chance of the vault becoming populated beyond support levels as only the original residents were present or so it seemed, and it wasn't as if anybody would become pregnant when they're really all in separate pods thus eliminating the chance of conception if intercourse were to happen in the simulation. But the biggest facto de amazement was that this vault did as vaults promised, unlike the others. It would actually shelter those who entered it, it would protect them until the world was safe and then send them back to their old lives as if nothing had happened. Whereas the other vaults only really promised that anyone entering would have their genetics preserved from destruction. But these people had entered the vault and have the chance to leave when the time was right.

When the wanderer had finished his thought train he decided to scout around, all he managed to find was that he was in the body of a child and that the place was filled with condescending adults and a little cry baby called jimmy. But he was yet to find any semblance of a command structure, not even an overseer, was he in a part of the simulation that went unseen to everyone else, spying behind mirrors and hedges?. All the wanderer really had left was to check an abandoned house and speak to a young girl and her dog that were happily playing in a sandpit on the green. Another thing annoying the wanderer was the lack of colour, was his pod broken? Had he stuck a wire to his butt that should've been connected to his head? Ignoring this problem the wanderer made his way to the little girl deciding the house wasn't as much of a priority.

"Hello, I'm Betty, Who are you?" the little girl said as she emptied a watering can over a patch of monochrome daffodils. "Most people call me the wanderer". "It's ever so lovely to meet you wanderer, now you can play my game with me, I do so _**love**_ games", the girl said with a slight menacing smile on her face. "Im sorry Betty but I don't really have time for a game, I'm looking for my father" the wanderer genuinely sounded apologetic, he didn't exactly like disappointing children like some Grinch but he simply wanted to find his father and leave. Then the wanderer entered the twilight zone as the little girls squeaky and polite voice became that of a very angry German man that sound coming out of that little girl had to have been one of the strangest things the wanderer had ever seen. "If I say I want to play a game we will play a game this is my world and you do as I say, understand!" the wanderer stood with his mouth agape. Then the voice changed back to the girls sweet princess voice, "now play my game wanderer and I will tell you where you're father is, cross me however and I will terminate him and trap you in here for eternity" the threat sounded creepier in this voice than that of the German man voice. "What do you want me to do?" said a rather fed up wanderer. "First I would like you to make jimmy Nussbaum cry, then return here". With that "betty" or whomever this really was turned their back on the wanderer and continued watering daffodils. The wanderer walked off silently fuming at the fact that nothing could ever just be simple, there was always some whack job or jackass standing in the way of simplicity. In, find dad, leave. As if that was ever really going to be the case. The crazy old woman the wanderer had the displeasure of meeting earlier ran up and grabbed him by the arm, painfully. "Don't fall for his lies child he's not a girl he's pure evil, go to the abandoned house it's where he controls everything, go now!" with that the woman let the wanderer go and walked off towards her home. The wanderer really didn't want to believe the crazy lady but she seemed to be the only one aware of what was actually going on, and there for through that logical conclusion would most likely know stuff the others didn't. So the wanderer headed to the abandoned house which looked very well kept for a place that was supposedly abandoned. The wanderer entered cautiously, just in case a Betty clone was hiding in a corner with a butcher knife or something. But no it was just dark with a load of overturned furniture with the most random objects placed on top of them. The wanderer stroked a garden gnome on top of an overturned chair; it emitted a high pitched whine. The wanderer realised he was in the twilight zone, again! The wanderer then began touching random objects; all were emitting slightly different high pitched whines. Then he realised they were notes, notes that matched the ones being played by the wind up radio on the slide behind Betty the psycho. The wanderer deployed his pip boy hoping it had recorded the notes in order. But when he looked at his wrist all he could see was a vault tech wrist watch, the wanderer would have to do this the hard way, and it would take quite some time, time that "betty" would notice. The wanderer headed back outside and walked straight up to jimmy Nussbaum. "You're parents are getting a divorce, and it's all because you wet the bed jimmy", the wanderer felt like a complete douche for doing this but he needed cover to decipher the code in the house. Jimmy's eyes began to water then he turned running home wailing and sobbing. The wanderer then returned to Betty.

"Happy now?" Betty turned to the wanderer and spoke like the German again "a little, next I want you to split the Rockwell's up, they're marriage is far too happy". Once again the wanderer was reluctant but agreed. Then when Betty's back was turned the wanderer headed back into the "control house" and set out figuring out the code, which took around ten minutes. Once the combination was in correctly a wall at the end of the lounge fizzled into nothingness revealing a large control console. The wanderer began rifling through the menu but couldn't find an end programme option. So he looked over notes from the vault overseer and the various simulation modes. This man was sick, a complete psychopath, the torture he had put these people through for two centuries made the wanderers blood boil, it had to end. He noticed a final option in the menu, Chinese invasion (not recommended). The wanderer finished reading Dr Braun's notes on the programme and felt the floor of his stomach drop. Then the wanderer reasoned, surely it would be better these people die than continue to be tortured, no, he had to find a way. The hack was difficult but he managed to break into the emergency override protocols. He couldn't cut off Braun but he could rescind Braun's overseer access and transfer it to himself. The wanderer couldn't set the others free either, that would only happen if the environment outside the vault improved drastically, the curse of automatic systems. But the wanderer had found a way to get the best of both worlds. First he completely cut off Braun's access; he would never be able to control anything ever again. Then he removed Braun's pod control from the main server which would trap Braun forever in the simulation and finally he moved all other residents to a different simulation on a separate server to Braun's meaning he couldn't harm them anymore and would be free when the time was right. There were only two pods left in the directory but both registered empty. The only way the wanderer and his father could get out would be a confrontation with Braun.

The wanderer approached Braun, who had anger and disgust etched on his face. "How could you do zis, what ave you done!?" "I did the right thing, you have no right to torture those people, now allow me and my father to leave". Braun smiled sadistically "I don't think so wanderer, if I am to be trapped here for eternity then you will stay with me, as my play thing". The wanderer had played his bluff well and was ready for this instance "well you see Braun I am now the overseer and you have no command access, so it is you who shall be my play thing, you getting a taste of your own medicine. At least until the world improves enough for the pods to open, then you'll be left here alone forever, I am going to enjoy this Braun" the smile stretched across the wanderers face proved to Braun that this was true, and he hated the thought of becoming the controlled, he would rather be alone. But Braun was willing to play his final card "very well wanderer, but you shall die here, I will not be controlled" Braun raised his arms ominously in the belief that the wanderer would be killed, but nothing happened. "Oh dear, oh dear oh dear" the wanderer said, looking at Braun menacingly "did you forget you no longer have any power here stanislaus?" the wanderer was being sarcastic and cheeky at this point, then Braun stared with eyes wide and filled with abject terror as the wanderer raised his arms, a great white light swallowed the cull de sac. When the blindness left Braun's eyes he found himself in a square in the middle of a city. The buildings were burning, the roads were cracked and bodies covered in blood littered the streets as smoke rose into the sky. A dark figure stood at the other end of the square, tall and terrifying, the moonlight shone around the figure like an aura, the flames from a burning car partially lit the figures pale stubbly face. A shocking blue eye locked itself on Braun and a cold voice from the darkness met Braun's ears "are you ready to play a game Stanislaus?" Braun shivered and shook with a fear deeper than any he had felt before, his heart was in his mouth, his stomach just wanted to empty itself. "Please wanderer, this is enough just take us back to the cull de sac I will free you and your father, I promise" tears filled Braun's eyes as he awaited the wanderers decision. "You haven't realised yet have you Braun, when you lifted your arms to kill me, the programme did the only thing it could. It ejected me and my father from the system, we are free now, and you are left here with a copy of my mind as your overseer for all eternity so no, we will not return to the cull de sac, we will play a game". A smile stretched across the wanderer overseers face as Braun, now in his true form fell to his knees. "NOOOOOOOO!" Braun realised he had lost; his existence would be a living hell, an eternity with the lone wanderer.

Meanwhile back in vault 112 the wanderer had delayed the opening of his father's pod and headed for his locker and retrieved his equipment before heading to the now open overseer's office. Once inside he downloaded the vaults entire database to his pip boy and then looted Braun's personal safe, most of the stuff was useless except for a pouch of bottle caps and a quantum harmoniser which he had been after for some time to complete his modification to the experimental energy shield back at the lab. Once he had finished this the wanderer headed back down to the pod room to release his father.

James Hammond awoke with a start as the hydraulic systems of his pod began to open, the memories of the past eleven months inside the system swimming in his mind like a dream that couldn't be remembered. Then he turned his head, someone was there, tall, very thin and very pale. He looked the stranger up and down. A Dark green frock coat with polished black riding boots and black leggings. A white shirt with a green tie and green velvet waste coat. What a strange outfit James thought, then he saw the face. Pale slightly chubby under the chin but sallow with deep set eyes and silvery grey hair and a sharp, long and thin nose, the hairline receded slightly. At first James didn't know who it was. Then he looked into the eyes, those shocking, Siberian husky eyes. It was Perry, his son, but he had aged dramatically beyond his years, his once warm bubbly demeanour replaced with a cold steel exterior. This was not his son, this was the wanderer. James immediately flew into rage "what have you done to my son!" the wanderer stared back before answering calm and soberly. "He died James, made the ultimate sacrifice to save others, he continues to exist only in my memories" James began to cry he couldn't believe it, Perry was gone and the wanderer allowed it to happen. "Why, he was supposed to stay in the vault and you were supposed to keep him there" the wanderer turned to James with annoyance, "we couldn't stay James, the overseer would have killed us, him if we stayed" James felt guilt welling up inside, it was his fault. "I didn't know, I didn't think Alphonse would react like that". The wanderer looked back at James "no you don't think James, not since you were my host" James looked up with worry "that's right your little memory block thing is starting to fail, I remember you as I remember the others. Your father and grandfather, all the way back to before the war when I was first created" James's anger came back to the surface. "You're nothing but a parasite riding through life on the backs of others". The wanderer had had enough of James's attitude. "Really James, is that all I am to you, or am I the only reason you and your predecessors survived as long as you have done". James looked back up with contempt "well you didn't help Perry did you". That comment stuck in the wanderers side like a gaping wound "how dare you, everyone comes to a no win scenario at some point, even me. It's inevitable, and if you hadn't run from the vault when you did leaving me and Perry to deal with a homicidal overseer and a crazed vault he would still be alive. Don't ever shuck the blame on me again James, I am just as much your father as I am your son, I brought you into the world and I can take you out of it" James was truly shocked at this and decided to put the subject to bed for now it was obvious that he was just as much to blame as the wanderer. "We need to go to rivet city" James stood up and began making for the door, but the wanderer did not move. "So you're not coming with me wanderer". "Oh I will come with you James, I know what you're planning and I can simply say it won't work". James tuned "it will work, I spoke to Braun and I know what I need". "Yes James you spoke to Braun but I bet he didn't tell you where you can get what you need". James knew that the wanderer must have more information, what he needed was rare and couldn't just be picked up like salvage in the wastes, "you know something don't you wanderer?" "No James but my pip boy might" the wanderer lifted his arm attached to the pip boy and waved it around a little. "The data is encrypted and the only computer that can decode it is back at my lab in wanderer's folly, so we should head there first".

James looked at the wanderer with bewilderment "what the hell is wanderer's folly?" The wanderer walked past James towards the door with a smug grin on his face "you'll see James, you'll see". The journey back to wanderers' folly took a few hours; James had continuously pestered the wanderer for information through the entire journey. The wanderer managed to bring James up to speed with everything that had happened over the past year when wanderers' folly came into view and stunned James to silence, he couldn't believe what he could see, and it was amazing. James and the wanderer stood near the edge of the overpass at its highest point and silently watched the sun rise over the city. Then the wanderer began walking with James following close behind. James sprung in to a tirade of questions once more; the wanderer rolled his eyes "I miss fully functioning cars".


	3. Chapter 3

Sarah Lyons sat in the den; the citadel was quiet this time of the morning, except for Scribe Rothschild's snoring that is. She had been thinking about the wanderer since Roosevelt academy, why did he disappear, where did he go and why didn't he want to be found. Who could hurt a near god so much that he could leave the world?

Things had begun to get to her. The pride was worn out from the search and the super mutants were becoming more ferocious in the D.C ruins. The search for the wanderer came to nothing and now her pride was too tired to reinforce the groups in the city centre, someone could die, the wanderer wasn't around to help and Sarah believed it was her fault.

At this point Vargas entered the den and sat across the table from Sarah, the look upon his face told her that he had something to tell her. "Come on then, spill, you know something" Vargas stayed silent but simply grinned like a Cheshire cat. "Come on already, or do I have to cripple your hydraulics again?" Sarah bashed her fist hard enough to make Gallows stir slightly.

"Well, scribe Vallencourt managed to hack an uplink to a pre-war satellite in orbit over western D.C"

"So, how does that make you grin Vargas?"

"Well Sarah, I managed to spy a certain wanderer walking along an overpass towards that new settlement over vault 106"

"WHAT!"

"Yep, he's back and he wasn't alone either, and Vallencourt says by his behaviour he's looking for something"

Sarah stood up from the booth knocking the table slightly, this time she really did wake gallows. Before he could bring her up on the rude awakening she had grabbed her gear and was out the door, Gallows walked up to Vargas and asked him what was going on. Sarah was almost at the exit as Gallows reacted to news of the wanderers return.

"What the fuck, she isn't seriously going to see him is she!?"

Sarah was almost out of the main gate when gallows caught up to her in full combat gear, but Sarah needed to do this alone. What she needed to talk about with the wanderer wasn't for the ears of her brethren; they would banish her if they knew the truth.

"No Gallows, this is something I have to do alone, go back to the den"

Gallows stopped in his tracks. He knew better than to defy Sarah, but he also cared for her and didn't want her to get hurt. There was nothing he could do. She was determined and nobody stops Sarah Lyons when she gets determined. All he could do was wish her good luck.

Amata was up again, she felt funny, the bed was wet. It was time, how did it pass so quickly? The day she feared for nine months was here. Her father wouldn't allow her to keep the baby once he was born. Who knew what would happen to her child now that she had stupidly decided to return to the vault. Who knew what her father was capable of these days. Amata pressed the call medic button. In no time at all Jonas was entering her room with a gurney, with Beatrice helping with the other end. But this wasn't the happy occasion it should be. There were no smiles; it was sombre and deafeningly quiet. Amata was loaded onto the gurney and wheeled out into a corridor with guards stood at orderly checkpoints.

A nearby speaker announced that all residents were confined to quarters and would be shot if found elsewhere. The gurney slowly moved past Perry's old office on the admin floor. It reminded her of happier times; it also made her sad to see it locked tight and covered in dust in the same condition as Perry had left it.

Eventually they made it to sickbay, the door was immediately closed and sealed, the windows emergency shutters descended. Amata noticed that Beatrice had injected her with something, it didn't feel right. As Amata fell into sleep she heard the "all clear siren".

The wanderer was hard at work when his intercom buzzed, the decryption would take time to complete. He flipped the intercom screen and saw that the security tower was trying to call. He immediately hit the answer button.

"Hello Lucas, what's wrong?"

"Some power armoured bitch just blew through my security gate, broke Lucy west's arm and now she's headed to your lab"

"I see, I've been expecting this visitor, let her continue"

"But she ..."

"No arguments Lucas, I will deal with her myself, and please tell the doctor to take payment for Lucy's medical care from my account and for the gate repairs"

"Ok ok, but I don't like this"

The wanderer pushed the end comm's button and moved to a console on a nearby desk next to a distillery setup. He pushed a camera icon at the top of the menu and was immediately shown a live camera feed of the laboratory section atrium, which was empty. The wanderer looked at his pip boy clock and tapped the screen. "She's late". Then he saw Sarah Lyons enter the atrium with a duffle bag of dynamite. She was about to start planting around the door when the wanderer pushed a button on the console to unlock the door.

Sarah stood back from the door as a buzzer sounded and the door pushed itself ajar. She kicked the door open and marched on heading down one empty corridor after another until she eventually came to a lab with a very large window wall. Behind the glass she could see the wanderer in a white lab coat and a pair of tortoise shell glasses. At first she was amused as she hadn't seen him as a scientist before. Then she remembered why she came and just wanted to punch his stupid face.

She moved to the open door of the lab and entered moving over to the side of the desk opposite the wanderer. Before he could say anything Sarah's arm was in the air. This was a mistake on her part as the wanderer caught her arm so fast she didn't realise until he had flipped her onto the floor and sat on her stomach. She immediately began wriggling and writhing beneath the wanderer.

"I get it I get it, you're pretty damn tenacious, now calm down or I will rip your arm off" Sarah immediately froze, prompting the wanderer to get off and sit on a chair.

Sarah immediately launched into an unintelligible tirade of abuse at the wanderer, he caught small snippets such as "how could you abandon the people of the wastes" and "you abandoned me" and of course the classic "do you know how worried I've been!" The wanderer put his hand up to silence Sarah.

"First of all I didn't abandon the people of the wastes; I simply had more important work elsewhere. Secondly there was no need to worry I am a grown man and finally are you angry about my absence or the aftermath of what happened when I rescued you from the Jefferson rotunda"

Sarah stood like a dear in headlights before regaining composure. "How dare you, you did not rescue me, you simply turned up and killed all those super mutants before I could untie myself. And what happened in that rotunda was as much you're fault as it was mine"

"Sarah, I was vulnerable and alone, Amata and Jonas had upped and left. I was a broken man and you took advantage" Sarah gave an irate growl and started smashing random lab equipment. She didn't notice the wanderer as he came up behind with a stun gun. When she awoke she was back at the citadel and the wanderer was nowhere in sight.

Amata awoke in the Brig. The baby wasn't there. She was alone. Where was her baby? Amata stared through the windows into the security room. It was empty, then she noticed a camera in the corner of her cell watching her every move. She spent twenty minutes screaming at the camera, but no answers to her questions were supplied. Eventually Amata smashed the camera and curled into a ball crying and pulling at her hair. Knockout gas filled the cell and Amata blacked out once more.

Amata's final thoughts before losing conscious were that her cries would never be heard, that she would never escape. How wrong she was, just the slightest twinge of her pain had been caught by the wanderer's telepathic power. He rose from his chair and immediately walked out of his laboratory with a look Sarah Lyons had never seen on the wanderer before. The look of intense anger. Sarah stood dumb founded as doors slammed and the wanderer's footsteps echoed ever further away.

The Overseer might not be able to see it yet. But the wanderer was heading back to the vault to meet his first born child, and he was very very angry!


End file.
